Hokkaido

Hokkaido is the second-largest and northernmost of Japan's four main islands. Together with its surrounding islands, it makes up the largest and northernmost prefecture and its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, and the two islands are connected by railway through the Seikan Tunnel.

The largest city on Hokkaido is its capital, Sapporo, which is also its only ordinance-designated city. Nearby, Sakhalin in Russia lies just 43 kilometres (27 mi) to the north. To the east are the Kuril Islands, which Russia controls, though Japan claims the four southernmost islands. Hokkaido’s location gives it a colder climate with lots of snow each winter, but it is also an important place for growing many kinds of food.

Long ago, Hokkaido was home to the Ainu people. In 1869, after a big change in Japan called the Meiji Restoration, the island was taken and renamed Hokkaido. Many Japanese people moved there, changing the land and way of life for the Ainu. Today, most people in Japan with Ainu ancestors do not know much about their heritage.

Names

When the Meiji government set up the Development Commission, they decided to change the name of Ezochi. One of the officials, Matsuura Takeshirō, suggested several names. The government chose "Hokkaido" and wrote it as 北海道. This name was chosen because it sounded similar to other Japanese names.

In 1947, Hokkaido became a full prefecture. The word "道" (dō) means "prefecture" in English. Some people think Hokkaido should have an Ainu-language name. One idea is to call it aynu mosir, meaning "land of the humans". Another idea is yaun mosir, meaning "onshore land". These names refer to the land of the Ainu people.

History

See also: Historic Sites of Hokkaidō, Zoku-Jōmon period, Satsumon culture, and Okhotsk culture

Early history

During the Jōmon period, the local culture and the associated hunter-gatherer lifestyle flourished in Hokkaido, beginning over 15,000 years ago. In contrast to the island of Honshu, Hokkaido experienced no conflict during this period. Jomon beliefs in natural spirits are theorized to have given rise to Ainu spirituality. About 2,000 years ago, the island was colonized by Yayoi people, and much of the island's population shifted away from hunting and gathering towards agriculture.

The Ebetsu Kofun Cluster is a group of mounds dating from the latter half of the 8th century to the middle of the 9th century. Along with the kofun, warabitetō (蕨手刀) or 'Emishi sword', magatama, and Sue pottery were discovered. Ebetsu Kofun is evidence for the presence of the Yamato people and trade between Hokkaido and Honshu before the eras of feudal Japan.

The Nihon Shoki, finished in 720, is often said to be the first mention of Hokkaido in recorded history. According to the text, Abe no Hirafu led a large navy and army to the northern areas from 658 to 660 and came into contact with the Mishihase and Emishi. One of the places Hirafu visited was Watarishima (渡島), which is often believed to be present-day Hokkaido. However, many theories exist regarding the details of this event, including the location of Watarishima and the widely held belief that the Emishi of Watarishima were the ancestors of the present-day Ainu people.

During the Nara and Heian periods (710–1185), people in Hokkaido conducted trade with Dewa Province, an outpost of the Japanese central government. From the feudal period, the people in Hokkaido began to be called Ezo. Hokkaido subsequently became known as Ezochi (蝦夷地; lit. 'Ezo land' or 'Ezo region') or Ezogashima (蝦夷ヶ島; lit. 'Island of the Ezo'). The indigenous people of Ezochi mainly relied upon hunting and fishing and obtained rice and iron through trade with the Japanese.

Feudal Japan

During the Muromachi period (1336–1573), the Japanese established a settlement at the south of the Oshima Peninsula, with a series of fortified residences such as that of Shinoridate. As more people moved to the settlement to avoid battles, disputes arose between the Japanese and the Ainu. The disputes eventually developed into a war. In 1457, Takeda Nobuhiro (1431–1494) killed the Ainu leader, Koshamain, and defeated the opposition. Nobuhiro's descendants became the rulers of the Matsumae-han, which was granted exclusive trading rights with the Ainu in the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods (1568–1868). The Matsumae family's economy relied upon trade with the Ainu, who had extensive trading networks. The Matsumae held authority over the south of Ezochi until the end of the Edo period.

The Matsumae clan's rule over the Ainu must be understood in the context of the expansion of the Japanese feudal state. Medieval military leaders in northern Honshu (e.g. Northern Fujiwara, Akita clan) maintained only tenuous political and cultural ties to the imperial court and its proxies, the Kamakura shogunate and Ashikaga shogunate. Feudal strongmen sometimes defined their own roles within the medieval institutional order, taking shogunate titles, while in other times they assumed titles that seemed to give them a non-Japanese identity. Many of the feudal strongmen were descended from Emishi military leaders who had been assimilated into Japanese society.

The Matsumae clan were of Yamato descent like other ethnic Japanese people, whereas the Emishi of northern Honshu were a distinctive group related to the Ainu. The Emishi were conquered and integrated into the Japanese state dating as far back as the 8th century and as a result began to lose their distinctive culture and ethnicity as they became minorities. By the time the Matsumae clan ruled over the Ainu, most of the Emishi were ethnically mixed and physically closer to Japanese than they were to Ainu. From this, the "transformation" theory postulates that native Jomon peoples changed gradually with the infusion of Yayoi immigrants into the Tōhoku region of northern Honshu, in contrast to the "replacement" theory that posits the Jomon were replaced by the Yayoi.

There were numerous revolts by the Ainu against feudal rule. The last large-scale resistance was Shakushain's revolt in 1669–1672. In 1789, a smaller movement known as the Menashi–Kunashir rebellion was crushed, after which the terms "Japanese" and "Ainu" referred to clearly distinguished groups, and the Matsumae were unequivocally Japanese.

According to American professor of Japanese history John A. Harrison, prior to 1868 Japan used proximity as its claim to Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands. However, Japan had never thoroughly explored, governed, or exploited the areas, and this claim was invalidated by the movement of Russia into the Northeast Pacific area and by Russian settlements on Kamchatka (from 1699), Sakhalin (1850s) and the Sea of Okhotsk Coast (1640s onwards).

Prior to the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Hokkaido was seen as a frontier land and the Tokugawa shogunate realized the need to prepare northern defenses against a possible Russian invasion and took over control of most of Ezochi in 1855–1858.

Meiji era

Colonization of Hokkaido

Main article: Colonisation of Hokkaido

Prior to the Meiji era, the island was called Ezochi, which can be translated as "land of the barbarians" or "the land for people who did not obey the government." Shortly after the Boshin War in 1868, a group of Tokugawa loyalists led by Enomoto Takeaki temporarily occupied the island (the polity is commonly but mistakenly known as the Republic of Ezo), but the rebellion was defeated in May 1869. Through colonial practices, Ezochi was annexed into Japanese territory. Ezochi was subsequently put under control of Hakodate Prefectural Government. When establishing the Development Commission (開拓使, Kaitakushi), the Meiji government introduced a new name, Hokkaido, which can be translated to "northern sea route". Regional subdivisions were established, including the provinces of Oshima, Shiribeshi, Iburi, Ishikari, Teshio, Kitami, Hidaka, Tokachi, Kushiro, Nemuro and Chishima.

Japanese proponents of Ezochi's colonization argued that it would serve as a strategic move to enhance Japan's standing and influence on the global stage, particularly in negotiations with Western powers, specifically Russia. The Meiji government invested heavily in colonizing Hokkaido for several reasons. Firstly, they aimed to assert their control over the region as a buffer against potential Russian advances. Secondly, they were attracted to Hokkaido's rich natural resources, including coal, timber, fish, and fertile land. Lastly, since Western powers viewed colonial expansion as a symbol of prestige, Japan viewed the colonization of Hokkaido as an opportunity to present itself as a modern and respected nation to Western powers.

The primary purpose of the Development Commission was to secure Hokkaido before the Russians extended their control of the Far East beyond Vladivostok. The Japanese failed to settle in the interior lowlands of the island because of aboriginal resistance. The resistance was eventually destroyed, and the lowlands were under the control of the commission. The most important goal of the Japanese was to increase the farm population and to create a conducive environment for emigration and settlement. However, the Japanese did not have expertise in modern agricultural techniques, and only possessed primitive mining and lumbering methods. Kuroda Kiyotaka was put in charge of the project, and turned to the United States for help.

His first step was to journey to the United States and recruit Horace Capron, US President Ulysses S. Grant's commissioner of agriculture. From 1871 to 1873, Capron bent his efforts to expounding Western agriculture and mining, with mixed results. Frustrated with obstacles to his efforts, Capron returned home in 1875. In 1876, William S. Clark arrived to establish an agricultural college in Sapporo. Although he only remained for a year, Clark left a lasting impression on Hokkaido, inspiring the Japanese with his teachings on agriculture as well as Christianity. His parting words, "Boys, be ambitious!", can be found on public buildings in Hokkaido to this day. The population of Hokkaido increased from 58,000 to 240,000 during that decade.

Kuroda hired Capron for US$10,000 per year and paid for all expenses related to the mission. Kuroda and his government were likely intrigued by Capron's previous colonial experience, particularly his involvement in the forced removal of Native Americans from Texas to new territories after the Mexican–American War. Capron introduced capital-intensive farming techniques by adopting American methods and tools, importing seeds for Western crops, and bringing in European livestock breeds, which included his favorite North Devon cattle. He founded experimental farms in Hokkaido, conducted surveys to assess mineral deposits and agricultural potential, and advocated for improvements in water access, mills, and roads.

The settler colonization of Hokkaido by the Japanese was organized and supported through collaboration between the Japanese state and American experts and technology. From the 1870s to the 1880s, Japanese leaders placed their efforts on settling Hokkaido by systematically migrating former samurai lords, samurai retainers, and common citizens, which included farmers and peasants, providing them with "free" land and financial assistance. This transformation was facilitated with the expertise of American advisors who introduced various colonization technologies, transforming Hokkaido into land suitable for Japan's capitalist aspirations.

Japanese leaders drew inspiration from American settler colonialism during their diplomatic visits to the United States. Japanese colonial officials learned settler colonial techniques from Western imperial powers, particularly the United States. This included declaring large portions of Hokkaido as ownerless land, providing a pretext for the dispossession of the Ainu people. Japan established the Hokkaido Colonization Board in 1869, a year after the start of the Meiji era, with the goal of encouraging Japanese settlers to Hokkaido. Mainland Japanese settlers began migrating to Hokkaido, leading to Japan's colonization of the island. Motivated by capitalist and industrial goals, the Meiji government forcefully appropriated fertile land and mineral-rich regions throughout Hokkaido, without consideration for their historical Ainu inhabitancy. The Meiji government implemented land seizures and enacted land ownership laws that favored Japanese settlers, effectively stripping Ainu people of their customary land rights and traditional means of subsistence. The 1899 Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act further marginalized and impoverished the Ainu people by forcing them to leave their traditional lands and relocating them to the rugged, mountainous regions in the center of the island. The act prohibited the Ainu from fishing and hunting, which were their main source of subsistence. The Ainu were valued primarily as a source of inexpensive manual labor, and discriminatory assimilation policies further entrenched their sense of inferiority as well as worsened poverty and disease within Ainu communities. These policies exacerbated diasporic trends among the Ainu population, as many sought employment with the government or private enterprises, often earning meager wages that barely sustained their families.

The Meiji government embarked on assimilation campaigns aimed not only at assimilating the Ainu but also eradicating their language and culture entirely. They were forced to take on Japanese names and language, and gradually saw their culture and traditions eroded. The Ainu were forbidden to speak their own language and taught only Japanese at school. Facing pervasive stigma, many Ainu concealed their heritage. UNESCO has recognized the Ainu language as critically endangered. Given the Meiji state's full political control over the island, the subsequent subjugation of its indigenous inhabitants, aggressive economic exploitation, and ambitious permanent settlement endeavors, Hokkaido emerged as the sole successful settler colony of Japan.

World War II

In mid-July 1945, various shipping ports, cities, and military facilities in Hokkaido were attacked by the United States Navy's Task Force 38. On 14–15 July, aircraft operating from the task force's aircraft carriers sank and damaged a large number of ships in ports along Hokkaido's southern coastline as well as in northern Honshu. In addition, on 15 July a force of three battleships and two light cruisers bombarded the city of Muroran. Before the Japanese surrender was formalized, the Soviet Union made preparations for an invasion of Hokkaido, but US President Harry Truman made it clear that the surrender of all of the Japanese home islands would be accepted by US General Douglas MacArthur per the 1943 Cairo Declaration.

Present

Hokkaido became equal with other prefectures in 1947, when the revised Local Autonomy Act became effective. The Japanese central government established the Hokkaido Development Agency (北海道開発庁, Hokkaidō Kaihatsuchō) as an agency of the Prime Minister's Office in 1949 to maintain its executive power in Hokkaido. The agency was absorbed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in 2001. The Hokkaido Bureau (北海道局, Hokkaidō-kyoku) and the Hokkaidō Regional Development Bureau (北海道開発局, Hokkaidō Kaihatsukyoku) of the ministry still have a strong influence on public construction projects in Hokkaido.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Hokkaido

Hokkaido is the northernmost and second-largest island of Japan. It is located near Russia, with coastlines along the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Pacific Ocean. The center of Hokkaido is mountainous, featuring volcanic plateaux. The island includes several large plains such as the Ishikari Plain and Tokachi Plain, and it covers an area of 83,423.84 km². The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from the island of Honshu.

Hokkaido is home to many natural wonders. It has three populations of Ussuri brown bear, more than anywhere else in Asia except Russia. The island is also a historic home to Japan's sea otter population. In northern Hokkaido, you can find the Sakhalin fir tree and the flowering plant Hydrangea hirta.

Hokkaido experiences cool summers and very cold, snowy winters. Because it is Japan's coldest region, it receives lots of snow, especially along the coast near the Sea of Japan. This makes Hokkaido a great place for winter activities like skiing. The snow often begins in November and continues through the winter months. The snowy weather is caused by winds from Siberia that pick up moisture from the warm ocean waters before reaching Hokkaido.

Administrative divisions

Main articles: Subprefectures of Hokkaido and List of mergers in Hokkaido

See also: List of municipalities of Hokkaido and Former provinces of Hokkaido

Hokkaido is a big place! To help manage it, it has special offices called subprefectural bureaus. There are nine General Subprefectural Bureaus and five Subprefectural Bureaus. These offices help take care of areas far from the main city, Sapporo, making sure everyone gets the services they need.

Hokkaido is also home to many towns and cities. It has 179 places where people live, including 35 cities, plus many towns and villages.

Major cities and towns

Hokkaido's largest city is Sapporo, the capital. The island has two main cities: Hakodate in the south and Asahikawa in the central area. Other important towns include Tomakomai, Iwamizawa, Kushiro, Obihiro, Kitami, Abashiri, Wakkanai, and Nemuro.

• Sapporo City

• Asahikawa

• Hakodate

• Kushiro

• Obihiro

• Kitami

• Iwamizawa

• Abashiri

• Wakkanai

• Nemuro

• Rumoi

Population

Hokkaido is the third-largest island in Japan by population, home to 5,111,691 people as of 2023. It is the least crowded part of Japan, with only 61 people living in each square kilometre. Sapporo, the biggest city in Hokkaido, has almost 2 million people living there. Other important cities include Asahikawa and the port city of Hakodate.

Economy

Hokkaido's economy includes many jobs in services, which create most of the area's money. Farming and other natural resources are also very important. Hokkaido grows a lot of food, such as wheat, potatoes, and corn, and it has big farms compared to the rest of Japan. The island is also known for its forests, seafood, and milk products.

Tourism is popular in Hokkaido, especially in summer when people visit to enjoy the open spaces, and in winter for skiing and other snowy activities. Historically, coal mining helped build some towns. Recently, a big company planned to build a large factory for making advanced technology products, which will create many new jobs.

Main article: Ishikari coalfield

Transportation

Hokkaido’s only land link to the rest of Japan is the Seikan Tunnel. Most people travel to the island by air, with the main airport being New Chitose Airport near Sapporo. One of the airlines, Air Do, was named after Hokkaido.

You can also reach Hokkaido by ferry from cities like Sendai and Niigata. The Hokkaido Shinkansen rail service connects Tokyo to near Hakodate in just over four hours. The island has a good railway network, though some places are only reachable by road. Hokkaido even has one of Japan’s Melody Roads, where special grooves in the pavement create music-like sounds when you drive over them.

Education

The Hokkaido Prefectural Board of Education looks after public schools in Hokkaido, except for colleges and universities. Public elementary and junior high schools are run by local areas, with a few exceptions. Public high schools are managed by either the board or local areas.

As of 2016, Hokkaido had 291 high schools, including national, private, and public schools. The island also has 34 universities, 15 junior colleges, and 6 colleges of technology, offering many opportunities for students to continue their learning.

Main article: List of high schools in Japan

Further information: List of universities in Japan

Culture

Hokkaido has many interesting places to visit and learn about its history and culture. You can explore the Historical Village of Hokkaido, the Hokkaido Archaeological Operations Center, and the Hokkaido Heritage site. There are also museums like the Hokkaido Museum, the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, and the Hokkaido Museum of Northern Peoples. Hokkaido is also known for its music festivals, such as the Pacific Music Festival, and its delicious foods like Sapporo ramen and Jingisukan.

Main article: Historical Village of Hokkaido

Sports

The 1972 Winter Olympics were held in Sapporo, making it a famous place for winter sports.

Hokkaido is home to many sports teams, including:

• Consadole Sapporo (soccer)
• Hokkaido American Football Association
• Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
• Japan Basketball League
• Levanga Hokkaido (basketball)
• Loco Solare (curling)
• Nippon Paper Cranes (ice hockey)
• Oji Eagles (ice hockey)

Hokkaido has a special connection to sumo, a traditional Japanese sport. The island has produced many top sumo wrestlers, called yokozuna. This success grew especially during the 20th century. Many young boys were sent to sumo training schools to help their families during times of economic change. The most successful time for Hokkaido's sumo wrestlers was between the 1970s and 1990s. Since then, the number of top wrestlers from Hokkaido has decreased.

Winter festivals

Hokkaido is known for its exciting winter festivals. The Asahikawa Ice Festival and the Sapporo Snow Festival are two famous events where people build beautiful ice and snow sculptures. Another fun event is the Big Air snowboarding competition, where athletes show off their skills. There is also the Shōwa-Shinzan International Yukigassen, a friendly competition where teams throw snowballs at each other. Lastly, the Sōunkyō Ice Festival offers more amazing ice displays.

Politics

The leader of Hokkaido is called the governor. The current governor is Naomichi Suzuki, who became governor in 2019. Hokkaido also has a group of elected leaders called the Legislative Assembly, which has 100 members representing different areas.

Hokkaido sends representatives to Japan’s National Diet, which has two parts. For the lower house, Hokkaido is split into twelve areas, and each area elects one representative. In the most recent election in 2017, candidates from different parties won these seats. For the upper house, Hokkaido’s representatives have changed over time due to changes in voting rules.

International relations

Hokkaido has friendly connections with many places around the world. Some of these include Alberta in Canada, Heilongjiang in China, Massachusetts and Hawaii in the United States, Sakhalin Oblast in Russia, several cities in South Korea like Busan, Gyeongsangnam-do, and Seoul, Chiang Mai in Thailand, and Thimphu in Bhutan. By January 2014, 74 towns and cities in Hokkaido had friendship agreements with 114 cities in 21 different countries.